Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Alastair Roberts

Alastair Roberts (PhD, Durham University) writes in the areas of biblical theology and ethics, but frequently trespasses beyond these bounds. He participates in the weekly Mere Fidelity podcast, blogs at Alastair’s Adversaria, and tweets at @zugzwanged.

Lots of good stuff there. The birth order story looks a lot like the one you posted earlier. I’ll just post my single anecdote. Among my three boys, our oldest is without a doubt the one who is doing the most in academic pursuits. He was a very early (and enthusiatic) reader and is now 3-4 years ahead of his age level in math(s)(an s just for you). The other two are pretty close to normal academically. We also pushed our oldest much harder, at least early on, so at least on those two metrics we seem to line up with this account. Of course our boys have very different personalities from each other which have affected how we’ve approached them.

Also, in general, I got better grades and stayed out of more trouble than my older brother, so there’s that.

I also really enjoyed the “lifestyle rigidity” piece. It reminds me of Brian Fawcett, whom I imagine you haven’t read. Fawcett is another highly original cultural critic. His book Public Eye: An investigation Into the Disappearance of the World is on my (poorly defined) list of best books ever. In any case, Fawcett has a fictional character propound the theory that a person’s soul can only move at walking speed, and that when we travel (especially by air), it takes a long time for our soul to catch up again. That particular bit of foolishness has lodged in my brain ever since and I’ve come to almost believe it.

I just finished reading Spufford’s Unapologetic on Rod Dreher’s recommendation, and have to say that I don’t really think it is at all representative of Christianity. The first couple chapters, with one tweaking the New Atheism and the other on prayer, were quite good, but the rest of it was, I thought, a pretty goofy and idiosyncratic mixture of materialism and Christianity. I believe he says at one point, “I am a very this worldly Christian.” And I totally believe him! Anyway, there is some good mixed in with the bad, but even that wasn’t particularly exceptional.

There might be some use in the prayer chapter for helping people understand what it is like to pray, but the rest seems to give a pretty misleading impression of the faith.

Thanks for the feedback! So far, Wright’s tome is a very worthwhile read. Sarah Coakley’s God, Sexuality, and the Self also arrived this morning. Knowing Coakley, I am expecting it to be an extremely stimulating read, but one which leaves me unpersuaded.